Biography of Henry G. Parsons

HENRY G. PARSONS. Among the representative agriculturists and stock-raisers of Pierce Township, Stone County, Missouri, we are pleased to present a sketch of the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this paragraph, and whose pleasant home and excellent farm are to be found on Crane Creek. He claims Alabama as his native State, his birth occurring near Tuscumbia in November, 1853.

He is a son of Hiram and Martha (Goode) Parsons, natives respectively of Tennessee and Mississippi. The parents were married in the latter State and removed thence to Alabama. Later, or in 1854, they settled in Jefferson County, Arkansas, but moved to Johnson County, that State, in 1860, and four years later moved to Polk County, Missouri, where they remained for one year, and then settled in Stone County, on Crane Creek. On this farm Mr. Parsons died August 12, 1874, when about forty-eight years of age. He was a farmer and carpenter and followed overseeing for a number of years in Alabama. During the war he served in the Home Guards in Arkansas and Missouri. He was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church.

His father, Jonathan Parsons, was a native of the Old North State, but died in Mississippi about the beginning of the Rebellion. He was of Irish descent, reared a large family, and followed farming for a livelihood. Our subject’s maternal grand-father, Nathan Goode, was killed in Mississippi during the war. The mother of our subject is still living and makes her home in Stone County, Missouri Her eleven children were named in the order of their births as follows: Mary J., deceased, was the wife of W. B. Cox; Thomas J., died in Oregon; R. G., resides in Stone County; Henry G., our subject; Hiram Nathan, of Stone County; William C.; Sarah F., wife of James T. Moore; Nancy, deceased, was the wife of George S. Moore; Sarah C., single, and two girls who died in infancy.

Henry G. Parsons passed his boyhood and youth principally on Crane Creek, and received but a limited education, the most of it after reaching his twenty-first year. When twenty-five years of age he began farming for himself, and in 1883 celebrated his nuptials with Martha E. Guthrie, a native of Tennessee, daughter of Hugh and Martha Guthrie, who came originally from Tennessee, and first settled in Greene County, and then in Stone County, Missouri, where Mr. Guthrie followed farming. He was a Federal soldier during the Civil War. To Mr. and Mrs. Parsons were born four children: Ernest, deceased; Omer K., Everett and Earl. The mother of these children died December 17, 1892. She was an earnest and worthy member of the Methodist Church. After his marriage Mr. Parsons located on his present farm and now has 153 acres on Crane Creek, and 120 in another tract. He is engaged for the most part in farming and stockdealing, and is taking considerable pains to improve his stock. He is one of the county’s thrifty, energetic young farmers and is one of the most prosperous men of his section. He is a member of Galena Lodge No. 515, A. F. & A. M., and in religion is a Methodist.

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